1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of automated telephone answering and forwarding.
2. Description of Related Art
Some organizations, due in part to their size, have a large number of telephone extensions which may be connected to the telephone network. It is generally desirable to allow incoming telephone calls to be connected to any of these extensions, but exigencies of cost and simplicity may require that all incoming calls be routed through a small number of routing points. These routing points may be serviced by a small number of human telephone operators, who manually forward calls to their intended destination extensions.
One problem which has arisen with manual forwarding of incoming calls is that human operators can become overworked during periods of intense activity, and may fail to service some calls before the incoming callers become frustrated and hang up. A device to automatically service incoming calls would not have this problem, but would instead be unresponsive to incoming callers who require service by a human operator. Servicing all incoming callers by machine may also be annoying to callers in some business contexts.
Devices which automatically service incoming calls and forward them to their intended destination extensions or recorded voice messages are well-known in the art. In particular, it is well-known to answer an incoming call and to route the call to an extension based on an extension number or menu selection typed in from a tone dial telephone. In general, two types of devices exist: (1) those which are set to service the incoming call immediately, requiring a caller without a tone dial telephone to wait a period of time before his or her call is serviced by a human operator, and (2) those which are set to service the incoming call only after a specified period of time, or number of rings, has elapsed and a human operator has not responded.
While these related devices are capable of automatic servicing and routing of incoming calls, they have the drawback that they cause difficulty for incoming callers. In case (1) above, an incoming caller without a tone dial telephone must wait an excessive period of time to reach a human operator, while in case (2) above, an incoming caller must wait an excessive period of time before his or her call is automatically routed. There is a need for an automated telephone operator backup device which generally allows incoming callers immediate access to a human operator, but which services incoming calls automatically when immediate access to a human operator is not possible.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an automated telephone operator overflow device which generally allows incoming callers immediate access to a human operator, but which services incoming calls automatically when human operators are too busy. This object, and other and further objects of the invention, will be apparent after examination of the specification, the drawings, and the claims herein.